It’s on again: fighting against men’s cancers with the sixth annual Heaven Can Wait 24 hour charity yacht race and the One Lap Dash

A large fleet of yachts will once again be racing around Lake Macquarie over 24 hours of the October long weekend (October 1-2) for the sixth annual Heaven Can Wait 24 Hour Yacht Race – and in the process raising funds for men’s cancer research and support programs.

The Heaven Can Wait (HCW) 24 Hour Yacht Race and the associated One Lap Dash will be held on Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, on the NSW Labour Day long weekend. Both races for this year’s event will start at 1100 hours on Saturday October 2, 2011, and will take participants on a circuit around Lake Macquarie.

The event raised money for the NSW Cancer Council and Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie; last year, with nearly 70 yachts on the startline, it raised more that $40,000.

As with the 2010 event, entry fees have been kept to just $50 for the 24 Hour Race and $30 for the One Lap Dash, and $70 for participants in both

The entire entry process – which is via the Heaven Can Wait website at www.heavencanwait.com.au – is done online, and includes the automated set up of an EveryDayHero donations page for each yacht which enters.

Crew, family, friends, work colleagues and other supporters can then donate money to individual boats – with a 'virtual' race also held for the boat team that raises the most money.

The HCW charity race concept was conceived and organised by Lake Macquarie sailor and cancer survivor Shaun Lewicki to raise funds for cancer research, awareness and support programs, with a particular emphasis on men’s cancer.

Those doing the HCW 24 Hour Race sail around the 28 Nm course for 24 hours, while the One Lap Dash involves a single lap of the course during daylight hours (and with a shorter course for non-sportsboat trailer-sailer yachts).

'Last year’s Heaven Can Wait was an outstanding success, both in the amount of money we raised, and the participation of yachts and crew,' said Lewicki, who is also Commodore of the Heaven Can Wait Yacht Club, which co-organises the event in conjunction with host club Royal Motor Yacht Club Toronto.

'Not only did we raise over $40,000 – nearly double the amount raised the previous year – but we put on a great weekend of sailing, socialising and fun.'

The event kicks off with the Heaven Can Wait Friday night dinner at RMYC Toronto, which again will feature local sailing superstar Nathan Outteridge and another yet to be announced World ranking sailor.

Nathan and lots of members of the Moth Squad will be competing in the One Lap Dash in their high-speed foiling moths, along with other members of the Moth Squad.

Then on the Saturday morning (October 1), up to 100 boats will head off around Lake Macquarie for the 24 Hour Race and One Lap Dash.

One Lap Dash boats will finish their race back at Toronto, while the 24 Hour Race yachts will continue sailing through the night, finishing at midday on Sunday October 2.

Supporters can donate to their favourite boats and crew by going to www.heavencanwait.com.au and clicking on the 2011 List of Entries.

Clicking on the name of their chosen boat will bring up the donations page for that boat. Boats can also be searched for by the names of skipper or crew members.

A great pic from the HCW weekend... shame about the dark weather conditions, a bit like sailing by braille as we tried to figure out the course... all I can say is thank god for the big cat "Two Tribes" for going balls out from the start line and leading all the way, sure made our race much easier by following their giant mainsail that was just visible in the mist ahead of us. - Heaven Can Wait